Repton Village WebsiteRepton - historic capital of Mercia | ||||
Village News | Village Society | Village History Group | ||
|
NEWSLETTER
- ISSUE 14- SEPTEMBER 2005 Autumn is here and the days
are getting shorter but the History Group is planning a series of talks
and events to fill some winter evenings, together with a 2 day exhibition
of photos and documents on 1st & 2nd April 2006.
We hope that we will have devised a programme for all tastes. The Group
has come a long way in the last 18 months. A lot of work is going on
organising meetings, projects, publications, displays, recording
reminiscences, building up our archives as well as all the routine work
necessary to run the group. It is thanks to everyone involved that we have
been able to achieve this good progress in such a short time. However, it
is the members who make the group and we are always ready to hear any
suggestions or comments you wish to contribute.
Alan Kimber, Chairman. OUR PROGRAMME Since the last Newsletter we
have had a photographic display in St Wystan’s Church to coincide with
the Open Gardens Weekend and also a talk by Keith Foster about the
research and records at the Magic Attic regarding World War casualties. In
July we had our first Guided Tour when we went to the historic village of
Findern. In spite of cool, blustery
weather, a band of members assembled at the Green and then went to the
Parish Rooms which are currently being beautifully refurbished to give the
village another valuable asset and meeting place. Findern was mentioned in
the Doomsday Survey of 1086 and has since had an interesting history. The
Fynderne family had a fortified Manor House on Castle Hill. When Jane
Fynderne married Sir Richard Harpur of Swarkeston in the 1500’s the
Fynderne line died out. One of their sons married into the Crewe family
starting the Harpur-Crewe line. We were shown round the village and were
surprised by the amount of the remaining original village which is hidden
away from the main road. Much of this was originally farms and workers
cottages now converted to much sought after housing. Jedediah Strutt came
to Findern in 1740 and was apprenticed to a wheelwright. He married
Elizabeth Wollatt whose family lived at the Hall and in 1780 he built the
great mills on the Derwent at Belper. More recent famous residents were
Reg Parnell, the racing driver and Edwina Currie. We finished the walk at
the very attractive and well cared for All Saint’s Church where we heard
a talk about its history. We thank the guides for their excellent
information and recommend this walk to others who can follow the route
from an excellent leaflet produced by Findern Historical Society. OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 20TH AT 7.30 PM IN THE VILLAGE HALL. MAUREEN NEWTON
WILL GIVE A TALK ENTITLED “A BACKWARD GLANCE AT CHILDHOOD GAMES” Maureen
Newton is a local and family historian of many years standing. Although
living at Hucknall, she knows South Derbyshire very well and has carried
out research work in the area. Maureen works at the superb Erewash Museum
in Ilkeston (which is well worth a visit) and has lectured on most aspects
of local and family history, some years ago writing a successful book
called “Children in the Mines” Our September talk is entitled “A
Backward Glance at Childhood Games” in which Maureen will bring to life
all those games that you may or may not remember. These games would have
been played not just in Repton but in towns and villages all over the
country. The talk may involve a little audience participation!! ON
TUESDAY 18TH OCTOBER We have a “Display Evening” for which the theme is “The
Village School”. It will include School Log Books, photographs and other
memorabilia. Please bring along any photographs or documents you may have
or just tell us about your memories of school friends, teachers, sports
days etc to make this a memorable evening. ON
TUESDAY 15TH NOVEMBER we have Victorian Magic Lantern
slides by David Guest. These are not just from Repton but all over the
world and many are around a hundred years old. ON
TUESDAY 29TH NOVEMBER we have an additional meeting
which is a visit to Repton School Library by kind invitation of Paul
Stevens, the Librarian. This library has many interesting books some of
which are hundreds of years old. The numbers for this event are strictly
limited to 20 so booking is essential. Paid up members will have
preference. Please book through Alan Kimber (01283 704042). WE
START 2006 ON TUESDAY 17TH JANUARY when David Stanier
will give us an illustrated talk about the well known company and the
staff of Tailby and George Ltd who for many years ran the Blue Bus
Services between Burton and Derby. TUESDAY
21ST FEBRUARY. A talk by Jim Willder called “Ticknall Paper Boy”. These are
the reminiscences of the village by a local lad. TUESDAY
21ST MARCH. A
1950’s Display Evening. We will display items from the 1950’s and
would ask members to bring along photographs and items from the same era.
This should be an evening of many memories and reminiscences about life as
it used to be. TUESDAY
18TH APRIL. Philip Heath, a well know local historian, will be
talking about the Diary kept by John Joseph Briggs of Melbourne between
1820 and 1875. TUESDAY
16TH MAY. We will
have our first (hopefully short) AGM followed by a talk about the history
of Burton Abbey by Dr Robin Trotter. OTHER NEWS We are indebted to Philip
Heath, the Heritage Officer of South Derbyshire District Council, who has
provided us with a CD containing a series of photographs of a plan (or
map) of Repton by Samuel Wyatt drawn in 1762 for the Calke Estate. Philip had discovered this in
the Staffordshire Record Office and took a series of photos to keep a
record of it. The plan shows every building in Repton at that time as well
as the Field Names and size of fields. It is a most valuable asset to the
Group. Originally there would have been a book to accompany it showing the
owners and occupiers of the land but this cannot be traced at present.
Currently he is seeking advice to see whether the plan can be
re-photographed in a manner that it can be displayed as one complete
sheet. We are also indebted to Martin
Badder, a friend of Alan Hiley, who has donated
a much needed projector to the Group. We are also working
with Repton Parish Council to investigate the possibility of the provision
of a Tourist Map of the village. This would be sited in a suitable
location to guide the many tourists and visitors around Repton’s
historic features. ANOTHER NEWS ITEM A GROUP OF MEMBERS OUTSIDE
FINDERN PARISH ROOMS OUR
WEB SITE Don’t forget our Web Site at
www.reptonvillage.org.uk
then using the link to Repton Village History Group. It covers our
programme and many other aspects of the Group’s activities as well as
having historical information and snippets about the past. A.K. 3.9.05 | |||
Copyright and Disclaimer All information on this website is copyright and permission must be sought before any form of electronic or mechanical copying. The information contained on this website has been included in good faith but the authors are not responsible for any liabilities resulting from its use. |